there is a well-known distinction between a
Bhuiya by tribe and a Bhuiya by title. The Bhuiyas of Bonai and
Keonjhar described by Colonel Dalton belong to the former category;
the Bhuiya Mundas and Oraons to the latter. The distinction will be
made somewhat clearer if it is explained that every 'tribal Bhuiya'
will as a matter of course describe himself as Bhuiya, while a member
of another tribe will only do so if he is speaking with reference to
a question of land, or desires for some special reason to lay stress
on his status as a landholder or agriculturist."

We further find in Bengal and Benares a caste of landholders known as
Bhuinhar or Babhan, who are generally considered as a somewhat mixed
and inferior group of Brahman and Rajput origin. Both Sir H. Risley
and Mr. Crooke adopt this view and deny any connection between the
Bhuinhars and the Bhuiya tribes. Babhan appears to be a corrupt form
of Brahman. Mr. Mazumdar, however, states that Bhuiya is never used in
Bengali as an equivalent for zamindar or landholder, and he considers
that the Bhuinhars and also the Barah Bhuiyas, a well-known group of
twelve landholders of Eastern Bengal and Assam, belonged to the Bhuiya
tribe. He adduces from Sir E. Gait's _History of Assam_ the fact that
the Chutias and Bhuiyas were dominant in that country prior to its
conquest by the Ahoms in the thirteenth century, and considers that
these Chutias gave their name to Chutia or Chota Nagpur. I am unable
to express any opinion on Mr. Mazumdar's argument, and it is also
unnecessary as the question does not concern the Central Provinces.

2. Distribution of the tribe.

The principal home of the Bhuiya tribe proper is the south of the
Chota Nagpur plateau, comprised in the Gangpur, Bonai, Keonjhar and
Bamra States. "The chiefs of these States," Colonel Dalton says,
"now call themselves Rajputs; if they be so, they are strangely
isolated families of Rajputs. The country for the most part belongs
to the Bhuiya sub-proprietors. They are a privileged class, holding as
hereditaments the principal offices of the State, and are organised as
a body of militia. The chiefs have no right to exercise any authority
till they have received the _tilak_ or token of investiture from their
powerful Bhuiya vassals. Their position altogether renders their claim
to be considered Rajputs extremely doubtful, and the stories told to
account for their acquisition of the dignity are palpable fables. T